Austin Nichols Granted Transfer Release by Memphis

Memphis Tigers head basketball coach Josh Pastner confirmed on July 9 that the school granted junior forward Austin Nichols a transfer release. The decision comes after the Tigers initially did not allow him to transfer despite his request to leave the program. All conditions have been removed from the release by Memphis.

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Memphis Removes Conditions from Transfer Release

Tuesday, July 14

John Martin of 92.9 ESPN Radio reported the Tigers dropped the terms stating Nichols could not join Virginia, Providence, Tennessee, Iowa or any team in the AAC.

Rob Dauster of CollegeBasketballTalk provided a statement from Nichols' attorney Don Jackson, who spoke about the restrictions placed on his client prior to the decision to remove them:

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Memphis’ denial of his release is based upon a bad faith effort to deny his request to transfer. The current NCAA regulations relative to member institution to member institution transfers violate the Sherman Act (as they illegally affect both the ‘input’ and ‘output’ markets).

Further, the restrictions are nothing more than a calculated effort to punish Austin’s family for his desire to transfer to a new program. Although the staff has attempted to imply ‘tampering,’ the broad nature of the restrictions clearly establishes that ‘tampering’ is not an issue; this is a calculated effort by a dysfunctional staff to punish a player for taking a step to remove himself from a failing program.

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Nichols is now expected to generate plenty of interest from other schools, with Evan Daniels of Scout.com stating at least 15 different major programs have contacted him about the promising forward.

Nichols announced his intention to seek a transfer during an appearance on 92.9 ESPN Radio on July 7, per ESPN's Jeff Goodman: "It was in the best interest of my family and I to decide to transfer from the University of Memphis. I want to thank everyone for supporting me in my two years at Memphis. The coaching staff, fans, family and friends. As for me, I think it's best if I move on from here."

Pastner originally told Goodman the school had no plans to release Nichols because of the late timing, leaving the school with little time to find a replacement. He stated the president and athletic director were in agreement to keep him to the commitment as well.

Now that the program has reversed the decision, the forward can explore other options. He averaged 13.3 points, 6.1 rebounds and 3.4 blocks while playing 29.5 minutes per game for the Tigers last season.

It's unknown what happened to cause Nichols to seek the switch. Pastner told Goodman the coaching staff last heard from him in June, and there were no problems, but letting him go was the right move.